ABSTRACT
The construction of modern port facilities in the late 19th century to a port-city such as Salonica, confined within its walls until 1870, was a major infrastructural project; in conjunction with the rail links to central Europe and Istanbul it upgraded the city’s geopolitical significance and economic operation. The paper explores the development of harbour works in other Levantine cities such as Izmir, Alexandria, Beirut, etc., triggered by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and discusses the architectural innovations introduced by the harbour project into Salonica’s oriental cityscape.
The port of Salonica would prove the most important French enterprise in the city and lasted until 1930. Its construction implicated prominent French firms, and their work was supported by skilled graduates of the prestigious French ‘grandes écoles’. The history of this venture brings to light interesting evidence regarding entrepreneurial antagonisms, engineering accomplishments, and architectural projects, some of which still form part of Salonica’s urban inheritaance.
Original maps and plans, and other archival material found in various holdings in Greece and abroad were used to trace the steps taken for the creation of the port, portray the modern harbour layout and equipment, and eventually reveal its modernising impact on the economic operation and physical form of the city.
